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Adeline is born
Adeline Yen Mah is born with the name Yen Jun-Ling. -
Adenlines Mother Dies
Adelines mother came down with a high fever three days after Adeline was born. She died when Adeline was two weeks old. -
Afenlines Father Re-Marries
Adeline's father gets remarried to Niang. Adeline was only a year old when they married. Niang was a seventeen year old Eurasian beauty. She was infact half french but she spoke Chinese. -
Adenline goes to school
Adeline goes to a school in Tianjin, the city in China where they live. She started school at St Joseph's French Convent School. 'Big Sister' had already been going there for years and was already in fith grade. -
Move to Shanghai
Adeline and her family move from Tianjin to Shanghai. Adeline's Father, Niang, and Fourth brother had been living in Shanghai for one and a half years prior. The house was situated on Avenue Joffre deep in the heart of the French Concession. -
School in Shanghai
Adeline and her four older siblings all start at a new school in Shanghai. They enroll at private missionary schools. But on the first day of school Adeline stood in the hallway waiting for someone to take her to school. All had forgotten about her. The cook ended up taking Adeline on the front of his bike to school as he was going to the market. After school Adeline waited with all of the other first graders by the school gate. Eventually Adeline was the only one left. Nobody had come to her. -
Pet Duckling
Adeline and her brothers and sisters get a pet duckling each as a treat for finishing school. But Adeline's duckling gets attacked by there dog and dies. Mr and Mrs Huang (Niangs friends) came to visit and they bought a box of pet ducklings one for each of the children. Adeline had to pick last so she got the tiniest duckling. But for the first time Adeline had a pet of her own. But when Jackie (their dog) gets tested on her obedience they use PLT. -
Back in Tianjin
Niang and her father make Adeline move to Tianjin to go to a boarding school there. She is enrolled at St Josephs again but as a boarder. What Adeline didn't know was that the communists don't believe in god and hate foreigns and Adeline is a foreigner if they win the war. Everyone was fleeing from Tianjin to Shanghai or Hong Kong. But Adeline's parents sent her in the opposite direction. -
Hong Kong
After a few months in Tianjin at bording school, Adeline is the last student left as the communists are coming. Her aunt comes to get her and take her to Hong Kong where the rest of her family is. Niangs older sister Aunt Reine comes to rescue Adeline from St Josephs school and sail with them to Hong Kong. -
School in Hong Kong
Niang puts Adeline into a boarding school in Hong Kong. After a few months, Adeline has skipped two grades and is at the top of her class. Adeline got sent to Sacred Heart school and Orphange. There were 1200 students enrolled at Sacred heart, 65 of them were boarders and the rest were day girls. It was the end of term and only 2 other girls were left to go home. Adeline was one of them. In the end Adeline was the only student left. She had to stay there the entire school holidays. -
World Writing competion
Adeline enters in a world-wide writing competition. Adeline finds a magazine in the school library and comes across a play writing competition that is open to English speaking children everywhere in the world. Six moths passed and there was no news about the play. Adeline then gets sent back home to see her father immediately. Her father shows Adeline the newspaper it has her name ADELINE on the front page, indicating that she won the competition! With a prize of 50 English pounds! -
Adeline Graduates
After just a couple years at the boarding school, Adeline graduates at only 14 years old! -
Adeline Finally is accepted
When Adeline finds out that her writing had been accepted as the winner, she told her entire family. They finally accepted her into the family. Adeline gets up the courage to ask father if she can go and study at university in England just like her brothers. Her Father agrees to send Adeline to England and university to Medical School and become a Doctor.